Crackerbell

on I wandered
with arms and nitric startled eyes,
nitpicking my way through the world
when the electrical current
that runs in all directions
deep beneath the earth
shook me

and at once I felt
there are so many years to fail
that to fail them all, one by one,
would give me a double life,
and I took it.

Source: Crackerbell (fragment) by Mary Ruefle